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03/12/2010 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse forward Arinze Onuaku is day-to-day with a right quadriceps injury.
Onuaku was hurt in Thursday's 91-84 loss to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. He underwent an MRI on Friday, which revealed the injury. Onuaku is expected to return to practice on Monday as the Orange prepare for the NCAA Tournament.
Onuaku was hurt with just over five minutes to play when he tried to block a shot by Georgetown's Greg Monroe. The senior needed to be helped off the floor.
Onuaku scored just three points in Thursday's setback. The senior is averaging 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds this season.
<< Tight end shuffle: Browns sign Watson, release Heiden
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns shifted their focus at the
tight end position on Friday, signing unrestricted free agent Benjamin Watson
to a multi-year contract and also releasing Steve Heiden.
Financial terms of the
<< Lehigh tops Lafayette for Patriot League title
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. McCollum poured in a game-best 20 points
to go with seven rebounds, as the top-seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks punched
their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 74-59 victory over the third-seeded
Lafayet
<< Thunder rookie Harden expected to miss 2-to-4 weeks
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City Thunder rookie guard James
Harden is expected to miss the next 2-to-4 weeks with a strained right
hamstring.
To replace Harden on the roster in the interim, the team recalled guar
<< Iowa State's Brackins to enter draft
Ames, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Iowa State junior forward Craig Brackins will
forgo his senior season and enter the 2010 NBA Draft, men's basketball coach
Greg McDermott confirmed Friday.
Brackins ranked in the top-10 in the Big 12 in bo
Holloway leads Xavier over Dayton in A-10 quarterfinals >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Terrell Holloway led all scorers with 22
points to lead the No. 24 Xavier Musketeers past the Dayton Flyers, 78-73, in
the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament.
Jordan Crawford added
James returns, powers Cavs over Sixers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James ended with 23 points and Mo
Williams chipped in 21, as Cleveland pulled out a tough 100-95 decision over
the Philadelphia 76ers.
James, who missed the previous two games due to a mildly sp
Monroe Doctrine: Hoyas dominate paint to reach Big East final >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Monroe dominated the paint with 23
points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and 22nd-ranked Georgetown returned
to the Big East Tournament final for the third time in four years with an
80-57 v
Lightning escape Verizon Center with win over Caps >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Walker had a goal and an assist as the
Tampa Bay Lightning got a big win in a 3-2 decision over the Washington
Capitals at the Verizon Center.
Vincent Lecavalier and Brandon Bochenski each had
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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